To Lose A Friend
by Ronin2
Summary: Kazuma's victory over HOLY and Mujo is successful, but at what a cost. My first deathfic in years as well as my my first sCRYed fic.


TO LOSE A FRIEND

I am unsure what registered trademark s-CRY-ed belongs to.

Anyhow, here's the story:

"Dearly beloved, we're gathered here today,  
to pay our last respects, to a good friend,  
who brought sunshine into everyone else's life, including the survivors of the village,  
Ryuho, and even Kazuma--and Kanami was her name."

Those words, spoken by former HOLY warrior Tachibana, rang out with traces of sorrow, standing before Kanami's new grave, while he spoke out to Mimori, Sherrice, Cougar, and an irate, falling apert at the seams Kazuma, who was even now, clenching and unclenching his fists and seething with rage over not only Kanami's death, but also at the nam that caused her said death in the first place--Kyouji Mujo

While Tachibana spoke, Kazuma's mind went through a mental retrospective of the memories he had with Kanami, from the rainy day when he first met her, to the times he had come home to her after each mission, from the dreams she had, to the times he had brought her to Mimori when the child was sick and dying, eventually leading up to the day when the evil Mujo sent one of the refined alters to capture and bring Kanami to the mainland--which he did.

It seemed that Mujo, for his part, in his unquenchable thirst for power and the power of the alter user had misused Kanami's alter power for his unholy (pardon the pun) purposes as well as settling it out with Kazuma and his rival turned partner Ryuho;  
he too, also owed a lot to Kanami, who, along with the townspeople, helped the now former HOLY warrior see the light and defect. The fact that it was also Kyouji Mujo that engineered the death of his father, along with the jam Kanami was in, for Ryuho, it was a grudge match.

Though Kazuma and Ryuho went and put Mujo in his place and ended his evil reign, not to mention save Kanami (and later spank her hard afterwards for her blunder), it was a bitterseet victory. With good reason.  
for just as Tachibana and Cougar had feared, Ryuho's alter power soon led to his death, long after that historic victory; he was buried as a hero. Worst of all, as it was with Ayase, Mujo's dirty work in having refined and tapped into Kanami's alter had delay reaction overtaxed the child's body in a way similar to Ryuho's. In the end, one month, after she had been saved and after the death of Ryuho, poor Kanami, after a month of body wracked pain and comatose spasms and convulsions, died in the wee hours of the morning--and as before,  
It didn't take long for Mimori and Sherrice to cry in sorrow and (naturally)  
Kazuma to throw himself into a blind rage, starting with a howl of, "NOOOO"  
After that, he used his alter power to demolish everything within a range of 7000 square kilometers.

"First Kimoshima," he growled, "then Ayase, and now, Kanami! Why? WHYYYYYYY?  
DARN IT ALL TO HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! MUUUUUUUUUUJOOOOOOO, GET LOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST!"

Kazuma blasted every patch of ground till he had cleared a lot of the land; but then, the fact that not only was he tiring out, but that Cougar's intervention, as he had done before, also played a part in helping the renegade alter calm down.  
But tired out as he was, Kazuma was indeed lost without Kanami, and that, from there on, he would never get over losing her. As such, it would be some time before Mimori,  
Sherrice and Tachibana could calm him down.

Even so, Kazuma vowed he would never forget Kanami. In fact, inasmuch as he had wiped out all the traces of HOLY, he and the others were aware that there was the the likely chance that another evil organisation would pick up where HOLY left off. Needless to say, at the suggestion of his new found friends, Kazuma vowed to forevermore dedicate his heroic skills in memory of his dead friends...Kimoshima...Ayase...and now, Kanami.

The alter user known as Kazuma, whom the now late Kanami used to call as Kazakun came out from his reverie just as Tachibana said, "That concludes the service."

One by one, they all left the gravesite, starting with a sobbing Mimori, who was comforted and held close by an equally weeping Sherrice, followed by a pensive Cougar, who for the first time was in a somber mood. Then Tachibana departed till only Kazuma remained.

"Someday...," vowed Kazuma. "someday I'll take out all the trash...and when the time is right, maybe someday...you can truly rest in peace...Kanami. But for now..."

Trying to stifle the tears that were welling up, Kazuma walked from the grave of the only real friend he had known for years...

OWARI (THE END) 


End file.
